Clitocybe odora

Clitocybe odora, the Aniseed Funnel Cap, is more easily detected by its scent than by its appearance. The pale blue colour of young specimens soon fades towards light grey.

Young caps of Clitocybe odora are quite striking... visually and in terms of their strong aniseed scent and flavour. The colour soon fades, but the strong odour and taste remain. Pale specimens could be confused with suspect species such as Clitocybe fragrans, and so it is advisable to collect only young, blue specimens for culinary use.

This beautiful mushroom is commonly referred to as either the Aniseed Mushroom or the Aniseed Funnel cap.

Once again, as if it was needed, the fungus world reminds us that gill colour is no guide to the colour of the spores. Like so many of the Tricholomatales, the spore print from this species is white.

This species is recorded in some reference books as Clitocybe viridis.

Cap	3 to 8 cm in diameter, blue-green at first but fading towards pale cream; smooth and non-greasy; convex, later flattening and eventually becoming funnel-shaped with a wavy margin. The cap flesh is white, thin and very tough; edible but best dried and used as a flavouring.
Gills	Paler than the cap surface, the gills are adnate or slightly decurrent, fairly broad and moderately spaced. Like the cap surface, the gills also pale with age.
Stipe	5 to 10 mm in diameter and 4 to 6 cm tall, the stem is silkily fibrous and is covered in fine white downy fibres towards the slightly swollen base.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Strong odour and taste of aniseed.
Habitat	In broad-leaf litter; mainly under beech trees.
Season	July to October.
Occurrence	Infrequent.
Similar species	Stropharia aeruginosa has a greasy greenish-blue cap when young; its surface is covered in scales, especially near the margin; it does not smell of aniseed.

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Clitocybe odora

Cap

Gills

Stipe

Spore print

Odour/taste

Habitat

Season

Occurrence

Similar species